Comments

Kozy62

The president has issued more job-killing regulations than any of his predecessors- at least 131 of them in his first term- at a cost of $70 billion just for adoption. Total economic costs of federal regulations are sky-rocketing to $1.75 trillion in 2008 said the federal government’s own Small Business Administration in 2010, the last time they were allowed to calculate such costs. Yeah. that's right. They haven't been willing or able to update the costs since then.

In short, the coal group got it right in November 2008.

President Obama has revealed himself to be nothing more than a short-sighted, inexperienced politician willing to do anything, saying anything and pay anything to go down as the "transformation president."

And I think when the economics of closing coal fired plants clashes with the history of Obama's presidency, history will be influenced by economics, not rhetoric.

Kozy62

In addition to the loss of electrical generating capacity, the Commerce Department estimated that when they killed just 20 percent of coal fired plants they killed up to 60,000 jobs, according to Heritage, while an industry trade group said that the rules will cost $129 billion, according to the Washington Post.

So that's...carry the two, divide by 5.... That's 60,000 direct jobs in power plants, another 82,000 jobs in mining, and 30,000 jobs in coal transport plus associated jobs.

According to the The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity the new initiatives will cost the country 760,000 jobs in total.

“If the Obama administration fails to recognize the environmental progress the industry has made and continues to adopt more regulations," said ACCCE's head Mike Duncan, "coal power could cease to exist which would be devastating for our economy.”

Under executive fiat, the EPA will shortly be forcing the shutdown of the rest of the coal fired plants in the United States. Obama closed about 20 percent of them in 2011 when he went on vacation in Martha's Vineyard.

With a bigger vacation budget this year, he probably figured "What in the world is he doing? Why not close the rest of them?"

Since coal generates about half the electricity demanded in the US, the country will have to find other, more expensive ways of making up half of the electrical capacity at a time that the administration wants electric to be the clean fuel of choice.

qcityfan

BTW, I did not see any of the Left-stream media ask one, single, solitary owner or president of a coal company or coal-powered generating plant about this radical, unilateral, hostile bankrupting of an entire energy producing industry, in order to get their expert opinion. Not one!

All we have is the dictator himself laying down the law, the media lapdogs soaking it up and joining in the cheering along with the completely irrational Sierr Club and other environmental extremists and marxists.

Kozy62

I'm not certain why anyone being against the government using tax dollars to bail out certain companies or spending tax dollars in a scheme such as Solendra would be wrong to say the President should not do everything he can to harm an industry...any industry.

rpmwwe

This isn't about whether natural gas is better than coal...its about what is Obama's plan to transition blue collar working class coal workers into another means of income. If Obama is declaring a war on coal then that is the same as declaring a war on blue collar working class coal workers if he has no intention of helping them out in the process.

For the record, I am not "anti-union". Unions have their place but those that don't recognize their limitations do create part of the problem.

rentss

I support what benefits this area, and that's natural gas not coal. Plus, there's not such thing as "clean coal", in fact it's 3x as polluting as natural gas even in its cleanest form.

I'm getting the impression that you haven't been back to Salem in quite some time. There are no coal miners living here, there are no coal miners doing their shopping here, but there are thousands of northern Columbiana/southern Mahoning families who will receive royalties on natural gas production.

Also, it's rather disingenuous of someone so anti-union to talk about them as union dues payers. Plus, it seems like the same people who were against helping out GM, now support coal unions.

Kozy62

Wow, rent...you sound like Pat Buchanan. All business in Ohio and neighboring States has a positive effect upon all of Ohio. Coal is now very clean and all power plants have very effective scrubbers.

These are people who work hard for their pay and benefits and they pay union dues. They buy stuff made and sold from Salem. Salem Tool Company kept many families going for many years by making machinery for the coal mining business and there are those who are reaping the retirement benefits now.

Coal is very clean and is cheap...which is the very reason why Obama wants to get rid of it. It's more of his revenge.

rentss

What coal miners? Salem area doesn't have coal miners, but it does have tens of thousands of people who sit atop natural gas reserves. Not only can the country get rid of extremely polluting coal, but it can enrich local landowners in the process.

It's a win-win situation for this area to support natural gas over coal interests.

Kozy62

...Energy producers are faced with the delay and costs from government's slowness in granting permits and its proclivity for issuing new regulations, by environmental group court challenges, and by the left's almost surreal ability to reject any energy source that becomes viable—even windmills in their backyards. Well-intentioned subsidies for renewables reduce the chance for success, since producers learn to live off the subsidies and have less incentive to produce feasible technology. Businesses and consumers feel the impact as energy costs increase.

The policies the president announced Tuesday are more of the same. Less government control and meddling would instead unleash the technologists and risk-takers to give us more energy, a stronger economy and a safer and healthier environment.

qcityfan

The Disaster Tour rolls on .... obama is the most anti-business, anti-taxpayer, anti-capitalism, anti-energy, pro-marxist president to ever hold high office. He will go to every lenght necessary to shut down the coal industry, including end runs on your elected officials in congress. He rules by executive fiat. Your electric bills will be skyrocketing in a few short years. This will be crippling.

It is simply unbelievable the damage that he is inflicting on this nation.

rpmwwe

You made 13 posts that have nothing to do with answering my question since my last post in which I asked the question. This is your big opportunity to show us that we just jump to conclusions when it comes to Obama. You can shut us all up by just laying out the plan Obama has to transition these blue collar workers. Surely, the great Democrat and savior of the working class would not write these people off as expendable. What's the plan?

ladybug

These plants lost in Salem where all good paying jobs and company's all made good profits until the big chesse's found out they could get the work done for nothing,In slave labor conditions,and no benefits.

Even the chinese are starting to catch onto the American greed,

Asking for better wages and benefits. Watch the AH flock back home or find some other cheap coutry to take advantage of.